by Israel Kipen
The first decision we made was to review our policy of employing school principals from Israel. In the light of past experience and future plans, we made a most radical departure from precedent and decided to advertise the position worldwide, stressing the need for experience in secondary education.
David Goldsmith (principal) and author.
One application that caught our attention was from Michael Pincus from South Africa who was thirty years old at the time and was Vice-Principal of the Herzlia Primary School in Capetown. Another that merited serious consideration was from David Goldsmith from New Zealand who was then Principal of a government secondary school with 1300 pupils. After sifting through these and many other applications, the choice narrowed down to Pincus and Goldsmith. Pincus had in his favour the fact that he had worked in a Jewish day-school and would thus be familiar with the specific issues peculiar to such a school and the fine tuning involved in providing an integrated Jewish and general education. Against his appointment were his relative youth and the limit of his experience to the primary school sector. Goldsmith, on the other hand, had both age – he was forty-six years old – and experience in secondary education on his side. But he had no experience in Jewish education, he had not seen a Jewish day-school in operation, nor had he had the opportunity of any extensive Jewish learning in New Zealand.
We faced a dilemma, and the choice before us was not an easy one. One extra factor had to be considered before a final decision could be reached. This was the filling of a new position that had just been created, that of Director of Hebrew Studies. As long as the school’s headmasters came from Israel, the tasks of supervising Hebrew studies and setting the tone and spirit of the school were given over to them. However, with the switch to a non-Israeli as headmaster, a need for a director of Hebrew studies became crucial. It went without saying that this position could only be filled by an Israeli. With the establishment of this position, some of David Goldsmith’s shortcomings became less weighty, and it was his experience in secondary education that finally tipped the balance in his favour. In mid-1978, the School Council invited him for interview and further appraisal, and in December 1978, he and his family arrived in Melbourne.
There were two major priorities facing Bialik College in 1979: the appointment of a Director of Hebrew Studies and a search for alternative premises to those at Wantirna.
To secure the former, advertisements were placed in the Israeli press, these attracting 70 applicants. Meanwhile, with regard to our second priority – the search for suitable property – we followed every lead, spending days and weeks inspecting anything that sounded even remotely suitable, but, for all that, without reward. Our frustration continued to mount until, one day, on returning from an inspection of one property, we passed through Tooronga Road and noticed an estate agent’s billboard attached to a fence announcing the auction of three-and-a-half acres of land fronting Auburn and Tooronga Roads. The property was owned by Nu-Brick and was a landmark in the area with its huge chimneys dominating the skyline. Beside the land was a multi-acre pit which served as a source of raw material for its brick production. The lay-out of the place, its kilns and unusual structures presented more of a moonscape than a future school site. Nevertheless, we were instantly attracted to the place and recognised its potential. On returning, I phoned the estate agents handling the property and learned from them that the firm of solicitors acting on behalf of the vendors was N. Jacobson, Chamberlain and Casen. This was a good omen, for the same firm were the honorary solicitors for Bialik College. I followed this call with another, this time to Max Casen who was handling the matter and obtained more information, whereupon I called together my executive and, after an inspection of the property, decided to bid at the forthcoming auction. The agents had foreshadowed a sale price in the vicinity of one million dollars, but this seemed to us an unrealistic expectation, and we were not dissuaded. On behalf of the College, I visited the bank manager, Mr Tickel, of the ANZ Bank in Little Collins Street, who promised to inspect the locality and returned enthusiastic about the site’s potential. I negotiated bridging finance in the event of acquiring the land and, given the unpredictability of auctions, awaited this one with some anxiety and not a little trepidation. While waiting for that day to arrive, we continued nonetheless to make further enquiries from the local authorities. It so happened that the property lay within the farthest boundary of the Hawthorn City Council to which our Shakespeare Grove property also belonged. We learned from the Surveyors’ Office that not many enquiries had been received regarding the land. As for the Council’s attitude to a school being erected there, we found initial reaction to be positive. We had ourselves reasoned that the Council would be favourably disposed to the idea, for it carried with it the possibility that Bialik College might in time transfer its sub-primary division from the Shakespeare Grove campus, thereby relieving it of its continuing headache there. We learned further that the pit beside the brickworks, which had belonged to the Board of Works, had been handed over to the Council which had intended to fill it and subsequently convert it to a 15-acre park and sporting complex for the locality. This information was of particular interest to us, as this complex could also become a natural sports facility for the school if our bid proved successful. What detracted from all this was the more unsettling information we gained that the Freeway Authority had the site in its own sights as a possible compensatory offer of parkland to the public in exchange for land used in its future planned extension of the nearby South-Eastern Freeway, such compensation being in keeping with its charter. I, therefore, visited the head of the Authority and was shown its plans in relation to the Nu-Brik property, and left with a distinct feeling that its interest in it was marginal. Even so, the situation cast a long shadow over our attitude to the property and caused me additional anxiety. I apprised the school executive of my apprehensions in the light of the Authority’s intentions, but we decided that the risk was worth taking, reasoning that similar uncertainties would have a dampening effect on other potential buyers and, hence, upon the price. The decision weighed on my mind nonetheless.
Those who attended the auction on the school’s behalf were Lionel Krongold, John Eisner, Eddie Kutner and myself. We placed a bid for a half-million dollars. There were no other bids, and the property was passed in. We proved ourselves the only interested party and thus became the subject of the vendor’s attention, whereupon the agents were in constant touch with me, repeatedly probing into our intentions and gently drawing us towards a higher offer for the land. To the extent that it seemed that we were the only prospective buyers, I felt that a cool and detached attitude on our part was the most sensible. Thus, after two months of mutual manoeuvring, we offered $600,000. For me, those were nerve-racking weeks. I knew only too well that the opportunity that here existed was the very thing I had wanted for the school and I asked myself repeatedly whether it was really true and reachable. Yet, I had, as the school’s representative in the negotiations, to remain completely in cool control, no matter how keen we were to buy the land. Then, one day I received a call from the agent advising that another party was showing interest in the property. At first, I suspected that this might be an agent’s tactic to press for a decision from the buyer. But truth was that another party did indeed show interest and had increased the offer by $25,000 over the $650,000 we had by that time gone up to. The situation became critical. The gravity of the situation was compounded by an obscure real-estate agent who called on me and talked about the property as if he had already acquired it on behalf of the other party. That other buyer had already lodged for approval a preliminary application with the City Council for the building of an extensive indoor sports centre on the site. The subtlety of the visit was not lost on me. I realised the school was in a touch-and-go situation. Forty-eight agonising hours followed. We had to improve upon the bid to regain the vendor’s interest in us. We thereupon made an offer of $685,000 which was accepted, much to our collective elation and to my per
sonal relief. We won the toss by virtue of the fact that we already possessed Council approval for our plans while the other party had still to wait for a reply.
The joy and relief in obtaining the land were indescribable. After having searched for suitable grounds for all of eight years, we could scarcely have anticipated that such land could be found so near to Toorak Road, right in the heart where so many of the school’s children lived, and 15 kilometres nearer than Wantirna. The parents, too, were ecstatic in approval; we welcomed the change from the battles that had waged over the preceding four years; while the school’s stocks soared and a new interest in its future became immediately apparent.
The task before us was enormous as it was urgent. The Wantirna campus was placed on the market with a price tag of one million dollars. This figure also represented the projected cost of building the new school. A first priority was for a major sponsor for the project with naming rights, coupled with a need for an urgent appeal for funds. As we tried to cope with these issues, we were approached by the neighbouring shoe-firm Ezywalkin whose warehouse fronted Auburn Road whose land was encroached upon by our own irregular border. What Ezywalkin proposed was a boon to us. The firm owned a strip of land along a lane on our site which it offered to exchange for that bit of land that protruded into its property, so that it could be bordered by a straight line. We accepted the offer which gained us 6,000 square feet of land over and above that which we gave away. The transaction also opened for us the use of the lane as a direct driveway into the car-park, thereby reducing the traffic in the main campus area.
On behalf of the College, Lionel Krongold approached the Smorgon family who agreed to meet with us. Basic plans, drawings and costs were by then in hand and a delegation consisting of Lionel, Sam Lipski and myself travelled to Brooklyn for the appointment. Victor and Sam Smorgon, surrounded by other members of the family, gave us an attentive hearing. After Lionel introduced Sam Lipski and myself, Sam spoke about the needs in Jewish education at the time and I followed with a presentation of the actual scheme in all its detail. We were then asked some pertinent business-like questions which I answered to their satisfaction. Specifically, what we had come to ask for was a donation of $200,000 towards the cost of building the school. During the interview, a secretary entered to convey to Victor Smorgon a message that Canada was on the phone for him. He instructed her to inform the caller that he would have to call back in half an hour as he was presently engaged. Hearing this, I was amazed and heartened that he should give our delegation such priority and undistracted attention over what had presumably been an important overseas call. The questioning over, the family retired to another room. Within five minutes, they returned, with Victor Smorgon saying, “We have decided not to bargain with you. We will give you the $200,000 you asked for.” Further agreement on specific details followed, after which Victor turned to me to ask a variety of questions about myself. This led him, in turn, to reminisce about his own life and his past and I felt a bond being established between us. He seemed in no hurry to dismiss us despite the fact that it was a mid-morning hour of business, and both he and Sam Smorgon gave the impression that they derived genuine satisfaction from the gesture they had just made towards Bialik College. When we left, our spirits were high. What buoyed me up most and gave me renewed courage was not only the substantial monetary pledge, but also the incident relating to the call from Canada. For, more than anything, it made me appreciate as much the manner in which the pledge was given as the actual amount that was given. I have not forgotten the gesture. The first main building erected, to consist of twenty-four classrooms and associated amenities, was, when completed, to carry the name Smorgon Family House.
The project was thus off to an excellent start. News of the Smorgon donation spread like wildfire throughout the community, for until then, no other Jewish school had succeeded in obtaining a single donation of that magnitude. It gave us heart to approach other people. We visited Jack Liberman, a grandparent of children at the school, for a sizeable donation which he promised to consider. He subsequently acceded to the request, displaying a manner in the giving which was also heartwarming and encouraging. A floor in the new building was named after the Libermans in recognition of the donation.
A similar donation was negotiated with David Bardas, given for the specific purpose of erecting a sports pavilion in the future (I personally regret that, to this time, no such pavilion has yet been built, though I have reason to believe that it will soon materialise).
Following these approaches, a successful campaign was undertaken to “sell” rooms in the new building. As the plans for the building were being considered, it was decided to display them in the staff room for teacher comment. It turned out to be a wise, if costly, idea, for one of the teachers suggested that every two classrooms should share a smaller remedial room between them which would facilitate more individual teaching and activities as the need arose. Although the innovation was to add an extra $150,000 to the cost of building the school, which we could ill afford, we nonetheless adopted the revised plan, for it gave us a built-in expansion potential and prospects for enhanced manoeuvrability with smaller classrooms in the future.
The problem of raising finances remained with us. A renewed application for assistance from the Schools Commission was rejected, despite personal representation by Nathan Kuperholz, who was Honorary Secretary of the College, and myself before a meeting of its Victorian division under the chairmanship of Sir Louis Matheson. The only concession to which they agreed was the transfer of the residue of equity in the Wantirna project upon its sale towards financing the erection of the Auburn Road building. A search in the money market led us to the superannuation fund of the Gas and Fuel Corporation who were prepared to remit the $1,150,000 required, provided that the loan was guaranteed by the Victorian Government. Provisions for such guarantees were in force and theoretically feasible. Nathan Kuperholz, who, as well as being the school’s Honorary Secretary, was also its Honorary Solicitor, took all legal steps to obtain the required guarantee. With its procurement, the finance for the project was secure. The loan obtained was for a period of ten years at 11.5% interest, or $132,000 per annum, payable quarterly.
Lionel Krongold who headed a construction firm won the contract to build the school, and work started as soon as a building permit was obtained. The proximity of Joshua Pila’s architect’s office to the building site proved very beneficial as it permitted a degree of supervision otherwise hard to achieve. It must also be recorded that Joshua Pila charged half the scheduled fee for his services, which barely covered his costs, and he must thus be deemed to have given those services in an honorary capacity.
While the school’s construction was proceeding, the Hawthorn City Council set about filling the excavations beside our property, and by the time our own project was ready, the Council’s work, too, was completed and thus fifteen acres of potential playing fields and sports facilities had become available. The time taken for earth to settle is ten to fifteen years. Hence, those grounds are still awaiting final grading and conversion to a public sporting amenity which will, in time, greatly facilitate the needs of both Bialik College and Gardiner High School on the other side of the field.
At the same time, Mr Sam Kliger who acted as our agent for Wantirna advised us that Taylor’s Coaching College was interested in purchasing the property. After lengthy negotiations, we sold Wantirna for $825,000. The sum obtained covered the cost of the land and the buildings as well as the interest we had paid during our period of ownership. Some $500,000 of the money received was used to repay the ANZ Bank’s bridging loan for the Auburn property and $300,000 was set aside for the proposed sports pavilion. The Wantirna campus closed at the end of 1980 and the 1981 school year was inaugurated at Auburn Road.
The official opening of the new school took place on August 16, 1981, in the presence of His Excellency, the Governor General Sir Zelman and Lady Cowen, numerous dignitaries and a crowd of 1,000 people accommodated
in a large marquee erected specially for the purpose. It was a festive and memorable occasion.
As already indicated, the move met with enthusiastic parent response and pupil enrolments grew. By the second year of operation, in 1982, the entire building was occupied and we began to talk of plans for expansion which seemed warranted on the basis of forward predictions of enrolments. The school’s executive and committee were at the time pre-occupied with material issues and did not have sufficient time to attend to other aspects of the school’s development. As we settled into the new premises, however, and the immediate financial and technical pressures upon us were brought under control, new matters relating to the educational administration of the College, with associated disaffection surfaced among parents to claim our attention.
The author greeting the G.G. Sir Zelman Cowen on arrival for the opening of the new college campus at Auburn Rd. Hawthorn in 1981.
In accord with the original contract, David Goldsmith and his wife embarked on a world trip in 1982, with special emphasis placed on Canada, South Africa and Israel which had much to offer in terms of established practices of Jewish education. In 1982, also, a need became apparent for a second-in-command to take charge of the primary division with its 350 children. In South Africa, where David Goldsmith attended a national conference of Jewish educators to which he had been invited, a young man caught his attention. Goldsmith approached him and sounded him out as to whether he would be interested in a vice-principal’s position in Melbourne. That man proved to be none other than Michael Pincus who had been David Goldsmith’s chief contender for the Principal’s position. On his return, Goldsmith, unaware that Michael Pincus’ name and background were familiar to us, reported that Pincus was interested in coming to Australia. On the strength of this report, the Council decided to invite Pincus, reasoning that with the appointment of a vice-principal, some of the administration problems might be alleviated. We were pleased to meet with Pincus in Melbourne and to learn that he was prepared to consider the vice-principal position, notwithstanding that he was a principal in his own right in Capetown. For our part, we had no doubt about his suitability and we offered him the post. He returned to South Africa, promising to answer in due course.